The 26th July is indelibly inscribed in the annals of Cuban history because this day marked a turning point in the struggle against the tyranny, oppression and corruption of the Batista regime in Cuba. On 26th July 1953, led by Fidel Castro, his brother Raul and many other valiant young Cubans, they decided to attack the Moncada Barracks, the largest military headquarters of the Batista regime in Santiago de Cuba province, an attempt to overthrown his government and his reign of terror on the Cuban people. Although this attack failed resulting in the execution of many of the young revolutionaries, the spark that was lit on that day would eventually give rise to the glorious Cuban Revolution which triumphed less than six years later.
That particular day gave rise to the July 26th Movement which became the Revolutionary vanguard that would topple the Batista regime. After Fidel and others were freed after two years following their conviction and imprisonment for the Moncada attacks, these young insurgents would leave Cuba and travel to Mexico where they organized and armed themselves and returned to Cuba. With the boat called Granma they travel from Mexico to Cuba and landed in the Sierra Maestra mountains of Cuba. From there, they would organize guerilla attacks on Batista's army. These attacks were always met with fierce resistance, resulting with heavy losses for the rebels but due to their tenacity and perseverance, they eventually succeeded not only in defeating Batista's army but in winning the hearts and minds of the Cuban people resulting in the triumphant march into Havana on 1st January 1959., marking a historic and momentous occasion for Cuban, Latin American and Caribbean people which is today the Cuban Revolution.
The 26th July Movement became a unifying force for all Cubans. With the subsequent triumph of the Revolution and the end to the despotic rule of Batista, a new era of social justice and equality was ushered into the Cuban society with the establishment of mass organizations of women, farmers, workers and youths who began to participate fully in the political social and economic life of the country. The Cuban Revolution thus became a beacon and an example for all of the oppressed peoples of the world who over the years became beneficiaries of this powerful yet selfless and humanitarian movement.
Today 69 years later, the same heroism and bravery displayed by those Revolutionaries in 1953 when they attacked the Moncada barracks have been the same characteristics that have defined the Cuban Revolution over the years. Despite all of the efforts both covert and overt by successive US administrations since 1959 to destroy the Cuban Revolution, it has stood the test of time and has survived. With a criminal economic blockade that has lasted 63 years thus far with no signs of relenting, the Cuban people and government have withstood adversity that no other country in the world and in human history has had to endure. Their only crime is that they have defended their right to choose their own destiny and have fiercely upheld their independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and their right to self-determination. All of the efforts of imperialism to bring Cuba to its knees have failed thus far and are destined to fail in the future because the Cuban people are resilient and strong. The independence that they won on January 1st 1959 is nonnegotiable as Cuba has demonstrated unequivocally for the last 63 years. It is time for the US administration to realize that their policy of hostility and aggression towards Cuba has failed miserably and it is time to return to a policy of common sense and decency that should characterize a country of such stature in the world. It is clear that Goliath cannot defeat David in this case .After 63 years of a policy that has not worked but has created only hardships and misery for the Cuban people, it is time for the US to listen to the people of the world who through the United Nations have called for an end this criminal blockade, that it is time to do so unconditionally.
As we reflect on the origins of July 26th, Cuba's National Day, we honour those who made the supreme and ultimate sacrifice on that particular day and those who gave their lives through the Revolutionary struggle and to the triumph of one of the greatest revolutionary movements the world has ever seen that has benefitted the people of Africa, Asia, Latin American and the Caribbean and even the US itself. We salute the leader of the July 26th Movement, the iconic and indomitable leader of the Cuban Revolution, Comrade Fidel Castro who said in his own defense after the Moncada attacks that "History will Absolve Me" it is clear today that those world's were prophetic for he is regarded today as one of the greatest revolutionaries of our message whose life and legacy would endure in the hearts and minds of all of the progressive peoples of the world. Long live 26th July.................Just Food For Thought!